Rohingyas manage PRCs, buy property in Jammu

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 14

A group of Rohingyas, living illegally in Jammu and Samba districts, have managed to buy land on the outskirts of Jammu city by fraudulently getting Permanent Residence Certificates, Aadhaar cards and ration cards.

Intelligence agencies have already asked the local authorities to keep a strict vigil on the Rohingyas after some reports published that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba was trying to exploit them for carrying out terror activities in India and Bangladesh.

One Sayed Hussain, a Myanmar national, at present residing in the Belicharana area, has managed to buy state land and has also managed a ration card, Aadhaar card, voter identity card and PRC through fraudulent means. He has raised a residential house with two shops on Khasra No. 235 at Rakh Raipur, which is the land of the Jammu Development Authority.

Interestingly, even citizens of other parts of the country are not entitled to PRC, commonly known as state subject, but some foreigners, illegally living in Jammu, have managed the official document in connivance with some officials.

Getting a PRC is a cumbersome process in J&K but the way Rohingyas have managed to get it has raised questions over the credibility of those at the helm of affairs.

“We have registered a case in this regard and would single out the officials who have issued PRCs and other documents to these foreigners,” said Senior Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch, Ramesh Kumar Jalla, adding that an “investigation is going on in the case”.

Due to political reasons, the successive state governments have ignored the settling of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis in Jammu.

Highly placed sources said Sayeed Hussain was not an isolated case, a large number of Rohingyas had managed to get official documents, which only citizens of J&K were entitled to.

As reported on January 21 this year, the state government had admitted in the House that 5,743 Rohingyas were illegally staying in the state. They have entered the state on their own and are staying at various places in the border districts of Jammu and Samba, the government had said.

According to an official record, of the total Rohingyas living in the Jammu province, 4,912 have the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cards. There is no information about those living without the UNHCR cards.

A campaign to deport the foreigners has already been launched by various groups in Jammu.

About PRC 

The Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) is popularly known as state subject. Unlike other states of the country, PRC is required in J&K to purchase land, get government jobs or continue higher studies due to the special status granted to the state. No citizen of the country except those from J&K is entitled to the PRC.